Walmart Launches GoLocal Last-Mile Delivery For Other Retailers

Walmart is rolling out a new, white-label, last-mile delivery service in the U.S. to help other retailers secure local transport needs and meet their customers’ delivery demands. 

Walmart GoLocal is a new business unit that builds on the retail giant’s know-how in getting merchandise to people’s doorsteps to and from every corner of the country, according to a press release on Tuesday (Aug. 24).

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“In an era where customers have come to expect speed and reliability, it’s more important than ever for businesses to work with a service provider that understands a merchant’s needs,” said John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. 

He added that Walmart has been working on the development and growth of its “commerce capabilities” to meet the needs of its 4,700-plus stores nationwide, and the company wants to offer the same efficiency to other businesses.

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GoLocal is a delivery-as-a-service (DaaS) model that was developed from Walmart’s ability to launch and scale delivery and express delivery for its own customers across a three-year time period. The retail giant’s delivery service brought more than 160,000 products to the doorsteps of some 70 percent of the population across the country from over 3,000 Walmart stores, according to the release. 

Walmart grew its delivery capabilities and network beyond company trucks to include drones, self-driving vehicles, and fulfillment centers. 

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The white label DaaS is intended to help businesses grow sales and reach more customers by using Walmart’s nationwide service. Walmart GoLocal can handle multiple product sizes and meet other “complex requirements” and also offers the “flexibility” to meet fluctuating deadlines, the press release indicated. 

“We’ve worked hard to develop a reliable last-mile delivery program for our customers,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart U.S. He added that Walmart will now be using those proficiencies to reach a new customer base —local retailers.

“Be it delivering goods from a local bakery to auto supplies from a national retailer, we’ve designed Walmart GoLocal to be customizable for merchants of all sizes and categories so they can focus on doing what they do best, leaving delivery speed and efficiency to us,” Ward said.